From The Independent:
For Manchester United the old and once thrilling adventure of European football has once again turned into a nightmare of missed opportunity, a rebuke to the idea that pulverising form in the Premiership will ever be a guarantee of success against teams where defence is foundation not an afterthought.
United went the way of Arsenal, their recently so exalted rivals, in a moment of terrible breakdown here last night. They were pushed into the margins of the Champions' League by another chilling mistake by goalkeeper Roy Carroll, but he was the man conveniently placed to take the blame.
When he spilled a shot from Milan's Clarence Seedorf into the path of Hernan Crespo, you knew where the shadow of guilt would linger. But the reason United's position in Europe is so fragile now goes deeper than a failure to find an adequate replacement for Peter Schmeichel.
They brought on Ruud van Nistelrooy, their great force before injury struck him down at the heart of United's season, but it seemed too late: by then we suspected the damage had already been done.
Before that, some of the football was beautifully electric but it was a critical view that was surely not too rapturously endorsed by Sir Alex Ferguson when he set about reminding his team about what really matters at the top of the European game.'